Mass in B minor Johann Sebastian Bach

In the very last years of his life, Bach assembled four volumes into a single entity to form the Hohe Messe (High Mass): the Missa (Kyrie, Gloria) composed for the Dresden court in 1733; the Symbolum Nicenum (Credo) of 1748-49; the Sanctus of 1724; and the group of pieces consisting of Osanna, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei/Dona nobis pacem. The end result was what the musicians who resurrected the Kantor’s output in the early nineteenth century described as ‘the greatest musical masterpiece the world has ever seen’.

This monumental polyptych combines original pieces with parodies, the original versions of which go as far back as 1714 in the case of the cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, which was the source of the ‘Crucifixus’. The work constitutes a veritable kaleidoscope of Bach’s vocal output.

Akadêmia approaches the B minor Mass in the same spirit as its recent performances of the St Matthew Passion. The vocal forces are modest: three quintets of singers, each of which forms a group of soloists, occupies the performance space, throwing into relief the alternation of soloists and ripieno and dramatising the score. The orchestra highlights the dialogue between wind and string groups. The conscious avoidance of monumental forces undoubtedly leads to a discourse that is more transparent, yet paradoxically also denser.